Feasibility Study Assumptions: Why They Matter More Than the Output
Every feasibility study ends with a recommendation — go, revise, or stop. It's tempting to focus on that headline. The more useful question is what assumption the recommendation actually rests on, because that's where the real risk lives.
A model is only as good as its weakest assumption
A financial model can be built with perfect formulas and still produce a misleading answer if one input — market size, pricing power, cost inflation — is significantly wrong. The mechanics of the model are rarely where feasibility studies fail; the assumptions feeding it are.
The assumptions that quietly decide the answer
Revenue ramp-up timing, customer acquisition cost, and the point at which fixed costs scale up (a new hire, a larger space) are usually the assumptions doing the most work in determining whether a project looks viable — more than the headline market-size number most people focus on.
How to stress-test before you commit
Run the model with each key assumption moved to a conservative case individually, not just a single "bad case" scenario — this shows which assumption the outcome is actually most sensitive to, and that's the one worth validating further before committing capital.
Where Valusage fits
Our Pre-Feasibility Review tests a business concept using high-level market, operating and financial assumptions and provides a go, revise, or stop recommendation, with assumptions and their sensitivity made explicit rather than buried. No field survey is included, and third-party data purchases are excluded.
Feasibility Studies
Pre-feasibility studies, financial models, desk-based market analysis, expansion studies, business cases, scenarios, and risk analysis.